Lansdowne, PA – May 17, 2024

The William Penn School District was honored to join fellow district leaders, elected officials, school board members, and other community members for an informative, inspiring, and impassioned morning at the DCIU’s annual Legislative Breakfast on May 17, 2024.

The focus of the event was timely and adequate funding for schools. Governor Shapiro presented his budget in February, and now we wait for its approval for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Superintendent Dr. Eric J. Becoats spoke to the theme of the program, “The Critical Role of Timely and Adequate Educational Funding”. His focus was on recruiting and retaining personnel, and he stressed the importance of passing the proposed budget fully and completely.

Also representing the William Penn School District was Penn Wood HS junior, Jaylah Wise who spoke about the great need for healthy and safe schools. As a student board representative for the past three years, she is a passionate and engaged advocate for the William Penn School District, and she did a tremendous job sharing about her experiences and reinforcing the need for fully funding Pennsylvania schools.

Thank you to Dr. Maria Edelberg and the DCIU for hosting this important event, and to all of the elected officials who spoke about their advocacy for Delaware County’s school districts, as well as all districts across the state, and the need for fair, adequate, timely, and constitutional funding that our students deserve. Thank you to Senators Kearney, Kane, and Cappelletti and Representatives Krueger, O’Mara, Curry, Kazeem, Delloso and Boyd for your determination and leadership.

Special thanks to WPSD school board representative Jennifer Hoff who also serves as the DCIU Legislative Council Co-chair and helped organize the event. And thanks to school board representative Jan Tong who was also in attendance.